Zhifeng Sun (CHN) and Arthur Longo (FRA) have won the fifth halfpipe contest of the 2010 LG Snowboard FIS World Cup. At Canada Olympic Park, right outside of Calgary, Alberta, the Chinese rider successfully competed in the ladies' final under flood light by earning 43.4 points. World Cup leader Xuetong Cai finished as runner up (42.1) thus securing a back-to-back 1-2 punch for China. Holly Crawford from Australia finished third (40.8). On the men's side, Arthur Longo celebrated his first ever World Cup win in his 13th start. By scoring 45.1 points, the Frenchman relegated local hero Justin Lamoureux (CAN, 43.6) to the second rank. Ben Kilner (GBR, 40.3) rounded out the podium as third.

After his career's first ever victory Arthur Longo was pretty speechless in the finish area. "I don't know what to say. I have competed in so many contests before and always fell. That I was able to end this series with a win is amazing", the 21-years-old finally summed up. In his first ever World Cup final and after a 16th rank as best result so far (Saas-Fee, 2009), the young gun from France put it all together, got rid of all unsteadiness and edged so far leading Canuck Justin Lamoureux off the hot seat.

Due to a "cab 720", "frontside air", "backside 900", "frontside 1080" and a final "switch alley oop backside rodeo 540" Longo also kept his chance of claiming one of the national spots for the up-coming Olympic Games in Vancouver which will decided tonight. "Maybe I made it with this result."

Lamoureux misses big chance

One man's joy is another man's sorrow: by sticking this run Longo denied Justin Lamoureux to clinch his first win in his 61st World Cup start. And the 2006 Olympian who had placed only once on the podium before (Stoneham 2002) had never been so close to victory.

"Of course I'm a little bit disappointed. But in the end I cannot complain. I got beaten by a better run" the 33-years-old stated. But finally, his technical and smoothly executed run didn't bring home the desired triumph although he had sticked almost all of his tricks all the way done switch: "switch backside 540" to "cab 900", "switch method", "cab 720" and a "frontside 720" to finish things off.

But although he missed his big moment today's result and the fourth rank of last week came out as a nice momentum builder while focusing on the up-coming major event: "This was definitely good for my confidence. My goal is an Olympic medal - just like everyone."

In Vancouver, Lamoureux will meet Ben Kilner again who will also seek his chance for a good result. The Scottish rider, who had earned his career's first podium today - just like the smiling winner Arthur Longo - said: "I cannot believe it. I tried to do well before the Olympics and now I hope I can do so again."

The LG Snowboard FIS World Cup continues in Sudelfeld, Germany, next week with a Parallel Giant Slalom. On February 6th, the last World Cup competition before the Olympic will be held.

FISsnowboard.com
Sunday 31 January 2010

Sina Candrian and Marc McMorris claim victory in first ever slopestyle World Cup

Sina Candrian (SUI) and Marc McMorris (CAN) have won the first ever slopestyle finals in the history of the LG Snowboard FIS World Cup. At Canada Olympic Park, right outside of Calgary, Alberta, the Swiss rider successfully competed in the ladies' final by earning 45.4 points. Canada's Brooke Voigt (39.2) and Alexandra Duckworth (34.5) rounded out the podium as second and third respectively. On the men's side, 16-years-old Canuck Marc McMorris celebrated his first victory in his second World Cup participation. By scoring 45.1 points he relegated Seppe Smits (BEL, 42.9) and Nick Brown (42.0) from New Zealand to the second and third spot.

By winning today, McMorris wrapped up an outstanding personal week. After finishing eighth in a big air competition in Quebec seven days ago, his World Cup debut, he added his first ever triumph to his belt. He started his winning run with a "handplant 360" over the first feature and went on with "frontside Boardslide 270 off" over the down rail before nailing a huge "gap to backside boardslide" on the box set-up. In the big air section he sticked "backside 1080 double cork", "frontside 720" and a "backside rodeo 540" to finish things off.

"It's really good to be the first ever slopestyle winner. The fact that it happened in my home country makes it even better. It's awesome to be on top" Canada's freestyle rising star said. And although he didn't bring in much World Cup experience, the Regina resident (Saskatchewan) - straight from the flat lands of Canada - knew that he could do it today. "I had some pretty good practise runs and also a good qualifier. I was pretty confident."

Smits only 2.2 points behind

Due to this character and the according first run he edged off some prominent riders such as the best of the qualifications, Seppe Smits - although the Belgium rider tried everything to knock off McMorris from the top spot by throwing in a "frontflip" over the wu-tang, "frontside boardslide to fakie", "½ cab on to 50-50 to frontside boardslide" on the boxes plus "backside 900", "cab 1080" and "switch backside 540" over the three kickers.

Although he couldn't manage to sneak in, the 2009 Big Air World Championships runner-up wasn't disappointed at all: "I'm happy with the second rank. I came here to do my best. In addition, the level of riding was pretty good. We saw some double corks. I'm pleased with the result."
Sina Candrian brings home career's first win

On the ladies side, Sina Candrian claimed an expected win after also having showcased the best runs in the practise sessions as well as the qualifications. But unlike the top-ranked men, the 21-years-old Swiss played with all three rails in her 17th World Cup contest.

Candrian took home the number one spot by sticking "backside noseslide" on the straight rail, "50-50" on the down rail, "50-50 to noseslide" on the box set-up also underlining her today's dominance by stomping "frontside 720", "backside 540" and "frontside 540" over the kicker line.

"It's nice to be the first slopestyle winner. But it is way more important that we finally could compete in one after Bardonecchia 2006 had to be cancelled. It was cool to ride here in Calgary" Candrian said.

The LG Snowboard FIS World Cup continues in just a few hours under flood light when the season's fifth halfpipe contest takes place in the 22-foot-pipe at COP, Calgary.

FISsnowboard.com
Sunday 31 January 2010